There are a lot of great tricks on the site, and even some information on yo-yo maintenance. Yo-yoing is so fun and so great, you’re going to have the best time. Just remember, while some tricks can be learned quickly and easily, some will take time and practice. You can do it. Just stick to it, and remember that failure is part of the process. You have to keep trying until you succeed. If you want to get more into the value of failure, check out Mark Hayward’s TEDx talk on how failure leads to success.

Place the yo-yo on the ground so that it can roll. Hold your hand near the ground and walk backwards pulling gently on the string. Keep walking backwards with your hand near the ground until the yo-yo winds all the way into your hand.

One of the easiest ways to wond a yo-yo. Pull up on the string with your yo-yo hand, put the thumb of your non-yo-yo hand on the gap of the yo-yo and push down. You should be able to get the yo-yo to wind up at least a little bit. Then just yo-yo it back up to your hand.

It is absolutely vital that you can do a PROPER bind if you are using an unresponsive yo-yo (which is what you need for new-school tricks). If you don’t do the bind right the yo-yo won’t wind as well, leading to reduced spin time, and you will dramatically increase the chance of getting a tangle when you throw. Tangles lead to yo-yos colliding with your head very hard when you make your next throw. It hurts. Bad. Learn to do the bind right.

Standard: On a regular throwdown you do a reverse bottom-mount, pinch the string with your free hand, and then pull up with your dominant hand. Follow these instructions exactly and you will get a nice wind that won’t tangle.

Side-style (Poyzer Bind): On a trapeze throw you unmount the trapeze, bring the string into the gap, pinch the string with your free hand, and then pull up with your dominant hand. You can also get into the mount by doing a reverse trapeze. It’s all the same in the end, because really both types are the same thing, it’s just that you get into them a little differently.